


Truly, Madly, Deeply- Emphasis on the Madly

by Fluffy134567890



Category: 1 Direction, One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1 direction - Freeform, 1d, F/M, Florida, Funny, Happy Ending, Harry Styles - Freeform, Humor, Liam Payne - Freeform, Light-Hearted, Louis Tomlinson - Freeform, M/M, Niall Horan - Freeform, North America, Sexual Content, Well - Freeform, Zayn Malik - Freeform, boy band, crazy girlfriend, directioners - Freeform, i changed it im sorry, mature - Freeform, on tour, one direction - Freeform, the boys, wow are you reading all these tags?, zayn, ziam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-02-19 14:25:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2391629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffy134567890/pseuds/Fluffy134567890
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn meets the girl of his....dreams? Nightmares....?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crazi for One Directyon

**Author's Note:**

> PLEAAASEEE inbox me with comments or ideas or ACK! Spelling mistakes I need to fix- constructive criticism is how one grows.  
> Or suggestions, I'll make short stories or fics to requests if I get any, probably.

I lounged on the familiar cushions of a couch- well, not _familiar_ , but a cushion- that was located in the backstage of a stadium in Los Angeles, California.

I opened my eyes and blinked furiously at the sleep, woken up by someone who had spoken my name.

Beautiful, gorgeous place, California. We had a show in… _some_ amount of minutes, and I could hear the fans screaming from here, a good walk from the actual stage. The room was a prison square with white, impersonal walls (One wall had a large crack in the plaster from ceiling to floor, caused by Louis, a helmet, and an indestructible glass bowl) and racks of clothes, the kind that could move. There was a couch, a love seat and a regular chair to lounge around in, housing a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, who was curled up on his phone, throwing his head back and laughing every now and again, I could hear him even in my sleep.

Maybe no one was sitting next to me because I took up all the room on this couch, but I wanted to get a quick wink in before the back-stage pass fans came in, so I had stretched out and nodded off. 

I scanned the room to find the person who woke me from my peaceful slumber, rubbing my eyes and resting them on the loveseat in front of me.

A brown haired, blue eyed lad was lounging on a brown haired, _green_ eyed lad, tapping his phone screen while his feet rested in the other’s lap, ignoring the quiet protests for the boy to let him up.

Well, not really _ignoring_ them, because he responded by telling the curly-haired boy that he was “fuckin' weak” whenever Harry made an exasperated noise.

I tilted my head back to rest on the arm of the couch again, closing my eyes because no one seemed to have actually needed my immediate attention.

Plus the fans shouldn't be showing up for a good… 1-30 minutes or so.

I was interrupted, though, by a pair of chocolate eyes peering at me, eyebrows raised, palms settled on the plush arm next to my head. “Lou told me to wake you up so she won’t have to re-do your hair.” He said. I glared in the direction of Lou’s set-up, sure that she was still there, doing something like interrupting my sleep.

“Plus, the fans will be here soon!” I heard Paul’s voice call out as he rushed past behind the couch, probably off to do some last-minute important stuff.

“ _Plus_ , the fans’ll be here soon.” Liam repeated, raising his eyebrows again.

“I can’t imagine what they’d do to you if you were lying down when they come in. All spread out for them...” Niall interjected, an irish accent morphing his words a little. I would’ve looked- _glared_ \- at him, but Liam was standing behind the arm of the couch, blocking my view. So I just settled with a deep sigh and a well-chosen finger.

“I just hope they aren’t as crazy-”

“ _Passionate_!” Louis interjected, sounding offended.

“As _passionate_ as the mum in Washington.” I corrected. I heard Niall laughing, probably clutching his chest from the memory, and I could actually _feel_ Louis rolling his eyes. I knew that Harry was coming up with a horrible joke as well, because I could feel it in my bones.

I actually got the pleasure of witnessing Liam’s shallow laugh,though, a large smile brightening up his entire face, sparking a smirk of my own.

I saw his arm flex as Liam lifted his hand to let his finger trail down my jaw, repeating the exact words the girl’s mother had said to me, speaking in a mockingly seductive tone.

“I _know_ you’re a little _young_ , but that’s okay, because you can learn from an _experienced_ -” Liam paused for dramatic effect before he continued “Older woman, and i’m sure that my husband wouldn’t mind joining us if the kids are… _away_.” I shuddered from the memory as Niall’s laughing intensified, morphing into a silent one, the kind that makes you grab your stomach and brings tears to your eyes.

“Wait-.... _wait_ …- **wait** don’t forget-” Niall reminded while Harry quoted back at Liam and Louis pointed at Niall to acknowledge the prompt.

“And it would be a _shame_ if you forgot to invite the one with the long tresses, even though he's not as _gorgeous_ as you are.” Harry quoted, equally as seductive.

I snorted (She had actually said tresses) and sat up, resisting the urge to shove my fingers through my hair, sure that as soon as I considered it, Lou would be over here with a chainsaw and a brush.

“I hope she wasn’t _too_ disappointed that me and Zayn never got back to her about that foursome.” Harry commented, tapping Louis’ ankle in a silent plea to be freed from his self proclaimed “Thighs of wrath.”

Louis dropped his jaw and made an offended noise. “Ex _cuse_ _you_ , but I’m sure she meant me, mate...”

Harry looked properly _baffled_ as he turned to face Louis, ready to initiate an argument.

I turned to look at Liam as he sat on the arm of the couch I had previously been lying on, an orange bandana -Harry's-hanging from his back pocket.

“I just… I _love_ our fans, but I ...I like them the most when they’re chill, y’know? Especially if they’re our age. Sometimes it’s nice to be treated like a normal lad.” I said thoughtfully, ignoring the intensifying debates of Louis and Harry in the background as Liam nodded in agreement.

“I know what you mean, just have a nice chat with a fan now and then, normal person to normal person.”

“Oh please, we’re anything but normal.” Niall interjected, having recovered from his gut-wrenching laughter and now having focused the entirety of his attention to a bag of crisps he seemed to have pulled from _actually_ nowhere.

“C’ _mon_ , Niall we’re nor-” Liam had cut off his sentence because he was too busy following Niall’s pointed look at Louis and Harry, who were both standing up now, Louis shooting _two_ middle fingers at Harry, both of them screaming at the tops of their lungs.

“Literally _wrong_ , mate, just incorrect-” Louis yelled to Harry, both of them obviously still trapped in the squabble over which one the mum had made the proposal for.

“Well, she wasn't talking about _you_ -”

“Well, I suppose she was talking about Liam, then?” Louis said sarcastically, referring to the fact that Liam was pretty much the opposite of her description. “Hey, Liam, you have _long_ hair, innit? D’you think the mum was talking about fucking _you_?” Louis asked, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

“Maybe not so normal, then.” Liam retracted,-sufficiently ignoring Louis' question- smoothing out my shirt as Paul stalked back in the room, a pen nestled behind his ear and a clipboard balancing on his palm.

“The fans will be back-stage any moment now- _stop_ that!” he demanded at Louis and Harry, who had their heads turned to the side, actively engaged in the art of slapping at each other’s hands, the kind of fight that people use in sit-coms. “Please, be _have_ , alright? And remember the rules- if you’re interested in them, make _sure_ they’re of age, keep in mind that they live in the states, and most importantly,- **Louis** \- don’t _break_ \- you know what? don’t _breathe_ on anything.” And he stood there, waiting for us all to agree to the rules that he spouted at _every_ gig, seeming to have not noticed the huge crack in the wall that hadn’t been there before, or the large red spill on the carpet that had-surprisingly- not been Louis’ fault.

I decided to ignore the question, since it seemed pointless to ask or to answer, and paid attention to louis' phone, which was on the table and lighting up-signifying a reminder that he had a text.

In the group, Louis had a serious girlfriend.

Liam had been seeing someone for a month or two, nothing even relatively serious. (I guess it wasn't really _seeing_ , since we were constantly on tour.)

Niall himself had a fair amount of random flings, Harry a close second.

So I came in last, a pathetic, sparse amount of one-night stands and broken attempts at relationships.

And you’d think, what with being in One Direction and all, i’d at least have some kind of substantial evidence of an actual _relationship_  under my belt.

And I do.

I lied, that was a lie.

I guess it’s because i’m not one for the craz- _passionate_ fans, since it seemed like the only thing they ever wanted to do was discuss my facial features and all.

Or my vocal capabilities.

Or whether or not I could handle them in bed.

Basically, they just wanted to talk about me.

I know who _I_ am, so now I want to know who  _they_ are. 

Is that too much to ask?

And I definitely wasn’t into the mums and older fans, since they only seemed to want sex too.

So basically, that left maybe a 1 percent chance for me to find Mrs or Mr. Zayn Malik.

And I preferred it that way.

I’m pretty _sure_ I preferred it that way.

Probably.

I focused back in on the present right as Louis raised his hand, speaking before anyone actually called on him, lowering his hands and clasping them behind his back. “I re _sent_ that, kind sir.”

Paul gave a hefty sigh. “Remember in New York-”

I smirked,-interested in this story- sitting on the edge of the couch, looking up at Louis- who was too busy gaping at the tour manager to continue his antics of giving Harry a relentless storm of soft punches to the arm.

Louis raised his hand and put a finger to the manager’s lips, shaking his head. “No, no, Paul. No, no. We do not _speak_ of the New York...  _incident_.”

Paul just rolled his eyes and looked at Liam desperately for help. “I don’t _know_ , mate. It’s not like I was there.” Liam claimed, shrugging.

I liked Liam’s voice a lot, the way he said everything quickly and clipped, how deep it was.

Niall hopped off the chair he had been lounging on and headed to go stand near the door, his hand reaching for a handful of crisps at regular intervals.

“Louis owes me a pair of pants because of New York.” he said, sucking the crisp residue off his fingers obnoxiously, giving Louis a pointed glare.

While Louis started defending himself to Niall, I stared at the bag of crisps, wrestling with asking whether he had eaten them all.

But I was sure that I already knew the answer, what with how easily he was slinging the bag around, and how it was Niall Horan who had them in hand.

“It’s not that I _care_ about whether or not you owe Niall a pair of underwear,- because I don’t- but I’d _really_ rather not have a repeat of the event. So… can all of you _promise_ me that you won’t cause too much disruption?” He glared at Louis, who neglected to answer him.

"I don't enjoy being placed into cages, it's detrimental to heart, you know." Was Louis' response as he grabbed for his phone, done with the conversation.

“ _I_ won’t break anything, Paul.” Harry interjected unhelpfully, stepping backwards. He missed a step, though, and ended up tripping a little, bumping into a coffee table and accidentally throwing a lamp off-balance. I watched as the lamp rocked back and forth, about two seconds from tilting over and smashing to the floor. Harry wrapped his hand around the base and stabilized it though, giving Paul a guilty smile.

Paul gave another sigh and walked out, grumbling things like “I’m not paid enough.” and “If I don’t quit they’ll come up dead one day.” under his breath.

“It didn’t break!” Harry called optimistically behind him, even though the door had already clicked shut.

“ _Love_ that guy.” Niall said, saluting the door as if Paul could see him.

I gave Niall a fond smile as the door opened, revealing one of our right-hand ladies- Zara- and a group of people trailing behind her. Once they entered the room, there was about 6-7 girls and two parents stood inside, overwhelmed.

The girl’s ages ranged from about 8 to what looked like their early twenties, and I smiled at a girl who couldn’t have been older than nine, sporting two pigtails and a cute little squeal that she gave whenever any of us inhaled. I stood up from the couch and gave her a hug, asking her if she was excited for the show, starting the rounds of questions and answers we had before nearly _every_ show.

After I had managed to speak to most of the girls, a lot of them having already trickled out of the room, I scanned the room for Liam.

I had hoped that he would let me use his- Harry’s- bandana. My hair was already annoying me, and we hadn’t even gotten on stage yet.

He was talking to someone across the room, when I spotted him, so I started to walk towards the twosome, the person’s profile getting clearer as I got closer.

I froze when I saw her.

She was wearing a pair of sneakers that had been painted red, one of them had a 1 on the side, and the other one had a D on the side, in white lettering. She had on red jeans and suspenders, a shirt that said “ _Crazi for One Directyon_ ” on underneath them, a 1 and a D painted in red on her cheeks, and a look of dazed clouding her eyeball, seemingly scanning the room for something, despite the fact that Liam was right in front of her.

Her eyes finally settled on mine, a bright grey slamming into my brown.

Despite me having cringed from what her shirt read,

I think I forgot how to breathe.

I was pretty sure I forgot my name, too.

She made a loud shrieking noise and stumbled over, shaking from head to toe as she stood in front of me, a nervous smile taking over her features.

She was _beautiful_ , all blonde hair and pale skin.

And obviously over the age of 20.

I was sure there was something I was supposed to be doing or saying, but I couldn’t remember my god damned _name_ , let alone what was I supposed to do.

“ _Ohmygod_ you’re _Zayn_ , you’re _Zayn_ , like _the_ **Zayn**!” She squealed eventually, looking disgustingly close to fainting.

My fists clenched at the thought of her fainting and hurting herself.

“um… yeah, i’m ...Zayn…” I managed to say, precariously close to shaking my _self_ , partly from the fear of whatever this girl just did to me, and partly in reaction to what this girl is _doing_ to me.

I swallowed.

“Are you- excited for the show? I mean, I guess so, since you’re so…” I gestured to her outfit, noticing that her shirt said more things than I originally thought it had. It had all our birthdays and Zodiacs printed on it too, a plethora of hobbies and other information woven into the pattern of the shirt.

“Of fucking _course_ i’m excited for the show! I just _know_ that you guys are going to be so, _so_ great, and you’re my favorite, and I’m most excited for you, and I’m trying so hard not to faint right now.” She rambled, talking with her hands, the beauty of her slapping me in the face with every syllable.

“Where’d you come from?” I asked her, distracte. It was a frequently asked question, since we were usually amazed at the distances fans would travel to see our shows.

Louis' said before that he wishes we could go to every single city and perform for nothing more than 10$, and I couldn’t agree with him more.

“ _Ohmygod_ , um I came from Florida, a place right off Miami-”

“Wait- why didn’t you go to the Miami show instead of coming all the way to California?” I interrupted, confused.

“I didn’t want to wait to see you.” She said simply, her voice shaky and light, reflecting a lot how I felt.

“Um-”

“ _Zayn_!” I heard Louis’ voice call from across the room. He was smiling at a mum and gestured me over to them, nodding his head to signify that he had _definitely, totally_  been listening to her.

I excused myself, tearing away from Florida to go say boring shit to an equally as boring, concerned mum, probably.

I was way more interested in talking to the mystery girl from Florida.

The lady really didn’t have much to say, just that her daughter loved us, and that she thought we were good role models, and that her daughter could stay wholesome if she listened to us.

Has this mom actually _heard_ our music or...

I _swear_ I could smell Louis’ amusement.

I didn’t _see_ it, though, because I was too busy focusing on the nameless girl, who was now on the phone, biting her lip.

“Zayn-” Louis said, trying to get my attention.

I looked up at him and nodded as if I had been listening, but watched as the girl shoved her phone in her pocket, looking extremely distressed.

“What’s the matter?” I called across the room, interrupting the mother's speech. I didn’t _dare_ move, from  fear of whatever wrath Louis would give me later if I did, but I couldn’t sit here and watch as Florida furiously wiped at her eyes, either.

She turned and looked at me, gasping from me having addressed her.

Damn, i’m not the fucking president.

“I… my ride… _cancelled_. She was my only ride home- I don’t have any way home-” She started wiping at her eyes again,-furiously- but it didn’t stop her tears from brimming over like she’d have hoped to achieve.

My heart softened and I bristled.

“Why?” I asked, using my hands to get the message across.

I didn’t usually yell across rooms- or at _all_ , really- but this was an exception to the rule.

 _She_ was an exception to the rule.

Ugh.

“I don’t know. Apparently I ‘forgot’ to tell her that I needed her to pick me up from California too!” She said, frustration clouding her voice.

And then I snapped.

I mean, not in the punch-someone-in-the-face way, or a tell-Louis-no kind of way, but in a heat-of-the-moment kind of way.

The  _worst_ kind of way.

“Youcancomewith _us_.”

And it was out, faster than you could say “ _Zayn_ , **_no_**.”

And it was all the way across the room and absorbing into her before I could snatch it back, already gone.

Then Liam was beside me, his hand clutching my arm- a bit too tight, really- and whispering a panicked “ _Zayn_ , **_no_**.”

But it was too late. It would be nothing short of _obscene_ for me to tell her that I was lying, and there was no other way she could get home.

“I already _offered_ , Liam.”

“Do you _know_ what’s going to happen if this girl goes on tour with us?”

“Can we talk about this later, maybe? thanks.” I said, dipping out of his grasp before Liam had actually agreed to talking later, deciding that ignoring the problem seemed like the properly british thing to do. “Look on the _bright_ side. Now Louis has someone _else_ to annoy the shit out of while we’re on tour.” I said helpfully, staring at the girl blankly across the room.

The girl who seemed to be shocked to the ground, with no hope for her future well-being, and shaking more than she had been when she met me.

Florida, the girl that had whipped out her phone as soon as she could function again, and was texting- furiously.

_Oh, **fuck.**_

**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**


	2. What's your name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn and Florida get to know each other more...kind of.

I had instructed Paul to find Florida after the show ended, explaining to him what I had done, with Liam rolling his eyes the entire time I spoke.

“You did _what_.” Paul said. He didn’t even sound that angry, just extremely exasperated. “You’re supposed to be the one I _don’t_ have to worry about.”

I shrugged, Paul’s words lost on me.

She was so interesting, with the way she spoke, how excited she was about us, about me. I mean, it was a normal thing, a lot of fans preferred me over the others, but this one was special.

I _wanted_ to help Florida home, and I would.

“I already got the 5 minute pre-show lecture from Liam, do I really-”

“Zayn, it’s not a _bout_ lectures, It’s about you being smarter. We’re going to have to tell her no-”

“Absolutely _not_ , if I wanted to leave her high and dry, then I wouldn’t have offered the ride.” I stated, cossing my arms.

“Fine, then we’ll pay for her a way home-”

Yeah, it was a reasonable answer, a way to fix what I had done. But I didn't really think what I had done was that bad.

And I wanted to know more about her, maybe even her real name.

“I promised her, I’m a man of my word.” I said, looking at Paul with as much definity as I could muster, sure that my own sureness would get me a free pass with him.

“Fine… but she’s going to have to sign a waiver. And this is to never happen again-” He turned around and pointed to Niall and Harry. “That means you two as well. No strangers on the tour buses or the tour, understand?” The boys acquiesced, Louis looking thoroughly entertained.

“What is it that you call her? Florida?” he asked.

* * *

Florida was on my arm, peering at the tour bus in the dark, squinting at the headlights.

“ _This_ is the tour bus?”

I raised my eyebrows, slightly confused… I thought the tour bus was nice. It was long, sleek and black, the kind of tour bus a superhero would probably ride in.

“I don’t know, I think it’s cool.” I said, opening the door and stepping in, holding it open for her and her bags, helping her with them.

I sat them on the floor, looking around to make sure nothing too scary was going on, like Harry waltzing around naked or something.

Whereas the outside of the bus looked shiny and squeaky clean, the inside of the bus was more like what I imagined tornado damage would look like. There was clothing strewn everywhere. Usually it was difficult to tell whose clothes were whose.

Except for Harry, we always knew which ones were his.

The kitchenette area had a bowl of fruit sitting on the counter.(There was a huge TV above the kitchenette, so that we could sit on the wrap-around and watch it) There was a small door that led to the bunks between the end of the counter and the bus door.

There was no room in the bunk room for her, since we needed the 6th bunk for our various junk. She’d have to sleep on the wrap- around couch at the front of the bus, across from the kitchenette. In the space between little “U” the couch made, there was a coffee table that could push from up under the floor, in case we wanted room to mess about or something.

The boys were nowhere to be found. I assumed they were lagging behind to talk to fans and gather their things from the green room, or to give me time with Florida.

“So… this is where you guys stay? There’s not much… room.” She said, looking around in a disappointed fashion. My chest squeezed a little from her discomfort, so I did my best to ease it. I walked over to the bench thing she would sleep on and moved Liam’s- Niall’s?- jeans from it, brushing off some crisp crumbs and presenting it as if I was a TV hostess.

“I mean, it’s not much but…”

It was much. Did she know how expensive this bus was?

She shot me a look that I couldn't quite place, and strutted over to one side of the couch, sitting down. “Your show was… _soooo_ great, it was everything i’ve ever wanted, I'm so happy.” I beamed. And then she beamed, a completely different emotion than the one she had only a few seconds ago. “God!” and she threw herself down on the bench-thing with a look of bliss on her face.

I smiled at her, her blonde hair mussed, the 1 and D on her cheeks having smudged, her eyes a little tired.

I sat down next to her and sighed, resisting the urge to take her hand. She’d be here for a little over a week, and the prospect excited me. “There’s a bathroom there, with a working toilet and sink.” I instructed, sure that she’d have to work to scrub the make-up off her face.

“So you…all share this bus? What about your crew and things?”

“There’s another bus for them, Lou and Paul and all those. They told us originally that we could split up the buses, but the boys wanted to all be together, so here we are.” I said emptily, not sure how to continue the conversation.

“How… how old are you, Florida?”

“Florida?”

“Yeah, I don’t know your name, so...” I gestured awkwardly.

“Oh. 23.” She said, picking at the edges of her shirt. I nodded as she started speaking. “When are we leaving-”

She was cut off by the door of the bus banging open and Louis bursting through. Once he saw me, he posed in a greeting, blocking everyone else’s way into the vehicle.

“Fucking, Louis, _move_.” I heard Harry’s deep voice demand from outside. Louis rolled his eyes and danced in the spot until Liam came up and physically pushed him aside, patting his shoulders apologetically. Harry mumbled out a “Thank you, I'm so tired.” and walked through the smallest door, grabbing a banana on the way through, a loud yawn coming from him as the door shut in his wake.

Niall was smiling because of the showdown, and I heard Paul close the door to the bus behind them.(Probably mumbling to himself about the hardships of dealing with us.) Louis flopped down on the other side of the wrap-around and propped his head up with his palm, watching us intently.

I'm sure she could see him clearly, even though the lights on the bus were dimmed, how they usually were when we were about to sleep.

“So… Florida, if that’s your real name-” Liam cut Louis off by slapping his ankle as he passed,sitting down on the more rounded section, next to me, directly facing the kitchenette.

“ _Louis_.”

“ ** _What_**? I was just asking for the remote.” 

Niall walked up with a beer in hand, and sat down in the sliver of space between Liam and Louis, looking up at the TV a bit dejectedly.

I looked at Florida and she was shaking, shocked into a scary sort of silence.

“You okay?” Niall asked, looking a little concerned as he opened his beer and searched the couch for the remote.

“Yes, yeah, I-” She said, and I smiled warmly at her.

“You’ll get used to them. They’re not as great as everyone makes them seem.” Liam said, watching her with an equally as warm smile.

Niall was getting really frustrated at this point, holding his beer by the neck as he stood up to look for the remote. Louis was watching him with an amused smile, and I acted like I hadn't noticed the remote nestled comfortably between Louis’ thighs.

“Lads… you’ll have to leave earlier so that she can get some sleep.” I said, explaining to them in tone where she’d be sleeping.

“I’m just _fuck_ ing where **is**  the bugger?” Niall groaned out loud, ignoring me in favor of his priorities.

Liam sighed and reached over, slipping the remote away from Louis and handing it to Niall.

“Cheers.” Niall said, and raised his glass at Liam, slipping back into his space as if he’d never left, resting his feet in Liam’s lap.

Liam put his hand on my knee. “We’ll clear out soon, mate.” He said. He had to talk louder than usual because Niall had turned the TV, and sighed. “Plus, we have a free day tomorrow, so-”

Florida interrupted him and looked at me. “A free day? Does that mean you guys are going to stay in like, a hotel?”

I nodded and picked at the hole in my jeans. It was only until Liam squeezed my knee that I realised I should’ve elaborated. “Erm, yeah, we usually have hotels on off days, for chilling.”

I watched her as I heard Niall and Louis laugh behind me at the screen.

I’ve seen fans go into shock before, and it was never pretty. Sometimes they’d faint, or even hurt themselves.  And here she was, right in front of all of us, experiencing us, and she seemed relatively okay.

\-----------

 

“Maybe I should round them up.” Liam said thoughtfully, scanning the two boys next to him, a fond smile gracing his features, making him look perpetually happy.

It made my heart swell.

It was all of them, really, that made my heart swell, one of the only reasons I put up with their quirks.

With the way Harry was unbearably sweet, always willing to sacrifice anything before himself. The way Niall was a literal ball of Irish sunshine, with his ability to light up any room he walked into. With the way Louis liberated everyone, the reason that anyone really tried new, dangerous, stupid things, how Louis was the edge. The way Liam was so thoughtful, maternal to the bone. (Someone had to be) How his deep love for all of us was always so evident in his eyes, no matter what Louis convinced us to do.

Sometimes the way he looked at me made me wonder if it was more than maternal, but i'd just shake my head and berate myself for even thinking it.

Niall was dosing off, his beer bottle tipping precariously on his lap, splashing the seat with left-over droplets whenever he’d start awake, trying to watch the golf tournament on the TV screen.

Louis had gone to sleep a long time ago, having slipped off his palm and into the crook of his arm, his chest slowly rising and falling with every breath.

I looked at Florida, who was asleep as well. I assumed the entire day had been draining on her, as it should've been. I’d probably have been worried if it hadn't.

“Yeah, Li, she’s asleep.” I answered. He stood up and stretched, popping his back and rolling his neck as he did.

He reached above my head and pressed the button that would send the coffee table back into the floor (it made a cool whooshing noise) and turned towards the boys and took Niall’s empty beer bottle and threw it in the trash, placing the remote in his own previous spot on the couch, and then gently tapped him.

“Niall… mate.”

Niall started and murmured something in Celtic. “I’m gonna go to bed now, I guess.” He said after looking around ans spotting Florida, scratching the back of his neck and standing up. He glanced at Louis. “Lad’s a cute sleeper.” and disappeared behind the bunk door.

Liam sighed. “One down, one to go.” and he walked over to Louis and coaxed him with a soft voice. “Louis….”

Louis blinked his eyes open and looked at Liam blankly.

“Louis, go to the bunks, you can’t sleep in here.”

“Why the hell not?” Louis breathed out, closing his eyes.

Liam tapped him on the forehead with his palm. “Because Florida is sleeping in here.”

Louis reluctantly cracked open an eye and looked across to the other side of the couch, groaning when he realised that Liam wasn’t lying. He moved off the couch slowly, and shuffled over to the door of the bunks, throwing Liam a pretty weak middle finger as the door shut behind him.

I stood up and smiled at Florida, who was sleeping rather peacefully for a girl who still had her shoes on.

“D’you think she’ll be okay?” I asked Liam quietly.

“Wot? Yeah, of course, Zayn. She’s with us. I think you’ll just ave’ to worry about Harry. Not because he’d-” Liam waved his hand around flippantly here- “Try to steal your girl, but because he’s Harry, y’know?”

I tried not to be jealous of Harry’s natural ability to charm women and men alike with a flash of a dimple or a smile, with the way he could so naturally speak to people as if they were his life-long friends.

Well, not to be vain, but looks can only get you so far in the dating world. With the people you  _really_ want to date.

I sighed and Liam threw his arm around my neck and walked with me to the bunks. As soon as the door shut I heard shifting, and saw the light of a screen flashing from Niall’s bunk.

The walkway of the bunks was a bit narrow, you had to walk through them to get to the bathroom. There were six bunks, three on one side of the aisle, and three on the other side, with curtains that could pull back and even latch a bit. There were spaces above the bunks for travel bags and suitcases to go into, as well. (One time we fit Louis in one of them, it was disastrous.) The bunks were a good size, enough for two people to fit into, the reason that the aisle was much more narrow than it should've been.Niall’s was open, with him on his phone, rolling his finger over the screen periodically.

“Did’you know that the fans noticed Florida? Half of them think that she’s mine, the other half are sure that she’s Harry’s, and some are pointing out that she could be yours.” He said as soon as I walked in.

“Oh, well…” I wondered what we’d do about it. Surely the fans deserved to know at least some of what was going on. “We’ll let the PR team give us some suggestions before we tweet anything, then.” I said, wincing a little.

I couldn't wait to get an earful from management.

Liam patted my back as I sat down in my bunk, which was right next to Niall’s, on the end. Harry’s was wedged between Louis’ and Liam’s, and Liam’s was right across from mine.

Speaking of, he crawled into his bunk and stretched out, grabbing the fabric curtain. “G’night boys.” and he pulled the curtain back to signify the end to his night.

“D’you really feel like talking to management tomorrow?” Niall asked casually, placing his phone in the bag sitting next to his bunk, getting settled in. I looked at him.

“No… we’re off tomorrow, the fans are going to have to wait.”

“Wait… won’t they see you with her though? Just take her a bunch of places, then they’ll know she’s with you. We won’t even need to Skype management.” He added a few minutes later.

“You’re brilliant, you know?” I commented, and Niall chuckled.

“If you guys don’t go to sleep, I _swear_ , the brown stuff on your beds in the morning will not be _chocolate_ surprise.” I heard Louis call from his bunk drowsily.

* * *

We stood in the lobby of the hotel, watching Paul pick his way over to us around the patrons who crowded in the lobby to come see us. Niall had his arm through mine as Paul finally reached our group.

“Okay, because of this… situation, I’ve booked four rooms.” And he handed us the key cards, watching Florida warily.

“Are you rooming with…?” Paul looked at Florida pointedly.

“Yeah, I’ll room with her.” I said.

* * *

I slid the key card in the lock and Florida pushed past me, flinging the door open and walking into the room.

Her hair swished as he walked, and she turned towards me with a huge smile on her face. “This is the coolest hotel I've ever been in. Probably” She said, walking over to the mini-bar and opening it.

She pulled out a few assorted snacks, grabbing the bag of peanuts and ripping them open.

I assumed she used more force than she meant to, because the entire bag ripped open, spilling peanuts all over her the counter. I winced. I wasn't really wincing at the mini-bar, I could afford to pay for the food (though it would've been nice for her to ask for) but for all the peanuts wasted on the floor in the process.

“Uh oh.” I said, walking over to help her pick up the peanuts.

“You can just leave them… Zayn.” She said my name like it was an experiment, sounding amazed that she could say my name casually like that, to address me.

I smiled at her, surprised that the way she said my name didn’t affect me more. I usually loved the way my name sounded.

“No, we should pick them up...”

“Don’t hotels have like, maids and stuff? Leave it for them, then they’ll have a job.”

I looked at her, surprised at her rudeness and leaned down to pick them up, shaking my head. You would almost think that with her insistence to not pick them up, she spilled them on purpose.

I looked up at her from my knees and she looked down at me and blushed.I realized we were in a compromising position and freaked a little. I scrambled up with the peanuts in my hand and gave a slight smile, cleared my throat and watched her study my face.

“You’re fucking _beautiful_.” She said out loud. She said it like it was just a fact, not really a compliment, so I wasn’t sure what to say about it. “I’m sorry, I didnt mean to attack you like that-” she started and I shook my head to forgive her comment, confused on what to say next.

“You’re pretty...too?” I wasn't really confused on whether or not she was pretty, more so on what to say back.

I took the moment to _really_ study her face, though,and noticed the red blob on her cheek that used to say “1D” once, and that she had thin lips- like Louis’ except less attractive- and a nice nose, and long eyelashes, and her _eyes_.

They were gorgeous eyes, a bright grey that seemed impossible, that held a lot of emotion.

They were enchanting and _huge_ , with her long eyelashes framing them, I itched to draw them, even, to color them in on paper.

I itched to not do them justice.

I cleared my throat, tearing my eyes away from hers somehow and looking at my feet.

“What’s ah… what’s your name?” I finally asked.

She reached out and cupped my chin with her hand, pulling my face back up. “I’m not going to tell you, not right now at least.”

I was shocked- here this stranger was, sleeping in the same tour bus as us, and she couldn’t even tell me her name?

What if she was a psychopath?

“What if you’re a psychopath?” I asked, my tone demanding her name, looking anywhere but in her eyes.

“Well, my name wouldn’t really help you that much, would it? And besides, I like being called Florida, it sounds cool.” And she took the peanuts that were still in my hand and threw them in the trash can, turning to me. “I-”

She was interrupted by a knock on the door, and I went to go answer it, smiling at the boy in the doorway.

“So, I’m going to go check out this haunted house. Not like, a _proper_  one. But it’s a place you pay to get in, like the kind people make up on halloween, and I hear it’s right scary. Liam’s a sissy baby and won’t go unless you go too. Something about me being too apathetic.” Louis said, rolling his eyes.

“It’s the middle of July.” I stated and Louis rolled his eyes again.

I was certain they’d fall out one day.

“You going or not, Malik?”

“I’ll ask Florida- maybe she’ll want to go.” I really wanted to go, it sounded cool, and it’d be a great way to help clear up the fan’s questions. “I’ll come by in a bit with an answer.”

Louis smiled. “Cheers, mate.”

I got the feeling that Louis didn’t want to go by himself, from fear.

I closed the door and gasped a little, taken off guard because Florida had been standing right behind me, listening to the entire conversation.

“I don’t want to go.”

“ _What_? Why not?” I complained, my spirits dampened by what she said. I was certain no one would turn something like that down.

“Because I don’t like haunted houses, and I don’t have any money.” She said, and I almost laughed.

“Did’you think I wasn't going to pay for you? It’d be our first date after all.” I blurted the last part out, surprised by my boldness. I immediately started feeling coils of anxiety in my stomach, and wished I could retract the statement, kicking myself. I didn’t even ask her, I just demanded it.

God, I’m so stupid.

“Our.. first date?” And I saw her sway a little, and remembered that she was a fan, and had probably fantasized about dating me in the past. Maybe she even thought I was offering her this trip out of the goodness of my heart.

I mean, I was, but if I hadn’t been interested in her, I would've just made Paul get her a car or something to take her back home.

I scratched the back of my neck and nodded.

“Oh, well… then yeah, I’ll go, I’d love to go, oh my _god_  I, I can’t believe- this is-” She shook her hands to calm herself down and smiled. “I just need time to get ready.”

“I don’t really think you need to dress up, we’re just going to a haunted house-” I started and she glared at me, grabbing her suitcase and disappearing into the bathroom.

I decided to leave the room, and found a door, knocking in blind hope that it was one of the boys’.

Louis answered, scratching his head and raised his eyebrows at me in question. “We’re going, yeah. She didn’t want to at first, but then I told her it’d be our first date and she freaked out, so now we’re going.”

“Well, I didn't _care_ about half of that sentence, but I’m glad for you guys and shit. We’re going at… 1:00, tell Liam.” And he closed the door before I could ask which one was Liam’s room.

I sighed and knocked on the door next to it, crossing my fingers.

An old lady answered.

“Yes, young man?” The old lady looked stern, like she could beat me up if I got on her nerves.

“I’m sorry, I must have the wrong room.” (Or Harry was staying here) I started, and a lady came up behind her.

“Mom, is something wrong?” And she looked at me from behind her mother, and looked a little shocked. “Hi, hello, do you… _need_ anything?”

“Look, Mandy! That boy could be your future husband, since you refuse to find one."

an exasperated face graced her daghter as her mother continued. "Give her your cellular number, young man.” She demanded, and I raised my eyebrows at her, doing my best to not laugh out loud. Mandy lead her mom away from the door and took her mom’s place.

“I’m sorry about my mother, do you need anything?” She asked, her eyes traveling over my body as I cleared my throat.

“I just have the wrong room, I’m sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble.” Mandy looked surprised at me speaking and I remembered that I was in America, and my accent was different.

I just wanted Liam’s room, god dammit.

"Oh  _god_ , that's really no problem, um... how old are you?" She asked, running her fingers through her hair.

"Um I'm-"

“Zayn? What’re you doing over there? Let them alone.” I threw my hands up and turned around. Liam started towards me, probably on his way to apologize on my behalf.

Why is everything made into such a big deal I-

I lost my train of thought a little bit, like I usually did when Liam was shirtless and walking towards me, and tore my eyes away from his abdomen.

Him seeing me ogle him was probably not on his day’s agenda.

He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled at Mandy. “I’m sorry for Zayn, he-”

“Oh, no, it’s okay, I didn’t, um…” She sounded flustered.

It was probably because of Liam’s abdomen, really.

He shouldn't just go around throwing it out there.

Liam wrapped his arm around my torso and hugged me into him, patting my stomach and smiled at her. “No, I’m sorry, really. C’mon, Zayn.” and he waved at her before turning us around and walking me towards the door across the hall.

“Did you get his number?” I heard the old lady ask Mandy.

“No, his hot boyfriend just showed up.” Mandy answered before shutting the door.

I groaned when Liam’s door closed behind me, resting my head against it. “ _I just wanted to tell you that we’re going to the haunted house at 1_.”


	3. Hotel antics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn learns that maybe love at first sight.. isn't all its craiced up to be.  
> I'm sorry.  
> I'm so sorry for that pun.

“Well you didn't have to harass people for it.” Liam said, traversing to the small kitchen in his single-sized room. “You’re too hot to be taking people off guard like that.” He joked, bringing a soda his lips and smiling at me.

Liam's room was set up just like mine was, but with a single, large-sized bed instead of two small ones. His duffel bag was on it, some of his stuff thrown haphazardly on the bed.

God, we were only staying for one night.

“Her mom was trying to set us up, I say.” I defended.

“So...we’re going to the haunted house? At 1? That’s in 30 minutes.” He said, sighing. Then he put down his soda and looked at me in surprise, like he had just remembered something important. “Wait, what about Florida?”

“I told her it was going to be our first date and then she agreed.” I murmured, scratching my head.

“ _Then_ she agreed? She didn't want to go at first?”

I shook my head and sat down on the edge of Liam’s bed and turned toward his bag, which was unzipped. He walked over and started rifling through it.

“Zayn…”

I groaned, predicting the shit-storm of questions that was about to be thrown ruthlessly at me.

“What do you know about this... ‘Florida’?” He asked, pausing his search to look at me pointedly.

“I know that she’s nice, and she’s from Florida...and I want to date her, she’s a One Direction fan, _and_ she’s 23.” I stated, getting his point halfway through my poorly forged list.

“What’s her name?” He asked.

"What was that?" I asked, even though I heard him perfectly enough.

"What's. Her. Name."

"Hm?" I asked again, looking towards towards the floor, studying it.

"...Zayn."

“Um… I don’t know. That’s why I call her Florida.” I offered.

“You haven't asked her?” I heard the disapproval in his voice.

“Yeah, yes, I have. But she said she doesn’t want to tell me...right now.”

“Do you know if she’s an Ax murderer, Zayn?”

“No.”

"What if she's an Ax murderer, Zayn." Liam said, and I looked at him.

He was standing, a nondescript shirt in hand, a not- so- nondescript look on his face.

“What if she steals all your money?” He continued, pointing at me to prove his point.

“At least she wouldn’t be an Ax murderer.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Zayn, she could be both.” Liam sighed and pulled the shirt on, disappointing me in the process.

Shit, it’s not my fault he has a nice body, damn.

After a few more questions and a set of brushed teeth later, Liam emerged from the bathroom and looked at me.

“Do you… want to sleep with her?” He sounded almost… hurt?

“Um… yeah. I think so? But I don’t want to until she’s ready, and at least know more things about her first.”

We both left the room and Liam was walking me down the hallway.

“If she came up to you right now and said she wanted you to fuck her, would you?”

I imagined the scenario, though ridiculous.

“I haven’t had sex in a really long time, Liam.” I answered. It was true, it’s been almost two months.

He looked at me. "That wasn't an answer, Zayn."

I shrugged and he dropped the subject with a pat on the back.

“We broke up.” Liam said suddenly, before we stopped in front of my door.  

“What?”

I had always severely disliked her. She was always rude, and selfish, and refused to let anyone see Liam but her when she was around him.

I knew they had some problems, but nothing that serious. It was normal to have problems with a long distance relationship- the only person who didn't seem to have  _any_ relationship problems was with Louis. 

Him and his girlfriend were disgusting.

“She broke up with me. Said she started dating me in the first place cause' I was good at having sex but she never sees me, which means that she never gets to utilize my dick, and therefore 'Has no reason to be dating me.'”

“Ew.” I said, making a face at her character. “Who _does_ that?” and then I added “Who would lie to you about you being good at sex?” Liam punched me in the arm.

“It’s not that bad, we weren't in love or anything.”

"She was certainly over-protective for someone who didn't love you or anything."

"I think she's just one of those people." He answered, scratching his neck.

We were standing in front of my door now, so I patted my pockets to locate my key card. And swallowed down a small dose of panic.

The last time I locked my room key in my room, I had to sleep in Harry and Niall's room.

“Fuck, I left it in the room.” I groaned, hitting my forehead against the door. That was when Louis stepped out of his room and walked towards us.

“You guys ready to go?”

I shook my head. “No, I have to get in the room, and plus we’re taking Florida… Oh _god._  Florida!” I exclaimed in relief and smiled in relief and Louis raised his eyebrows.

“Zayn forgot his keycard.” Liam explained, and Louis laughed.

Hard.

I turned to the door and started knocking on it, hoping that Florida was done in the bathroom, or at least could hear me.

“Remember the last time you lost your keycard?” Louis snorted, and I glared at him. Niall was a very active sleeper, and I didn’t enjoy being _literally_ trampled in my sleep. I should’ve slept in Harry’s bed, I knew I should’ve.

The door cracked open while  I listened to Liam and Louis talk. Florida stood there, in a pink skirt and a white shirt, her hair up. She looked really nice, and I smiled. “Thanks, I forg-”

She cut me off. “Ot your keycard?" She held up the key card and waved it a little. "I took it last night because I wanted to have control over it.” She said casually, moving aside to permit our entrance.

I walked past and stood by her, and as Louis passed he raised his eyebrows.

One day they'd fall off.

I was confident of it.

“... _Why_?” I asked, reaching for the card. She moved out of the way and shook her head, pouting.

“Be _cause_ , I thought that if we were going to start dating, I should have _some_ control in the relationship.” She whined, closing the door and walking over to shoulder her purse. “I’ll be right back.” She said, and disappeared into the bathroom again.

Wait…

“Wait… didn’t you ask her on a date just this morning?” Louis asked, and I nodded reluctantly, looking at the bathroom door as it opened and she walked out, shutting off the light with a _click_.

“You guys read-”

“Didn’t Zayn ask you out on a date this _morning_?” Louis repeated to her.

What was strangest was that she seemed so surprised when I asked her this morning, like she hadn't even considered the possibility.

“That’s what I said…?” She answered, making it a question to challenge his soundness instead of hers.

“...Right, well, let’s just go.” I stated, and the boys stood up and stretched, Louis walking over to Florida and throwing his arm around her neck.

“Welcome to the gang, Florida.”

* * *

We stood outside of the house in line, a few people from the door. It looked victorian, black on the outside and severely gothic, completely stereotypical.

It almost convinced me that it wasn't going to be as terrifying as they said.

No one else was coming out of the house, though, so I assumed there was a back door that led out. There was a man standing by the black front door -that _had_ to be taller than 7 feet and had a knocker on it with a skull- talking to the patrons. Florida was on my arm looking bored as the people were slowly being let inside.

Louis was bouncing on the balls of his feet, looking around. We had been in line for an exceptionally long amount of time, watching large groups of people entering through the hulking front door. “You know, their… system of letting people in is a bit flawed.” He murmured impatiently, and I was afraid he was close to leaving.

Because he would if he got impatient enough, and I didn’t feel like having invested so much time into this whole ordeal for him to decide to leave.

“Lou, we’re almost at the door, mate.” I said, and he made a grumbling noise and stopped bouncing, just started tapping his fingers against the side of his leg as the line finally moved up enough for us to be right next to the man who worked there.

“Hello, hello.” He said, addressing us.

“Hi.” Liam said to him, smiling.

“So, what’s going to happen when you go inside is, they’re going to put you in a group with a… couple other people.” He said after assessing the amount of people in our group, and continued. “And then it’ll be like a tour. A tour of your nightmares.” He said dramatically, and then he stopped talking.

“Your voice is very ominous, sir.” Louis pointed out. Liam nodded warily, and Florida just scoffed.

“If you guys think this’ll be scary, then we might as well just _leave_. It’s going to be nothing but a bag of laughs.” she stated, turning back to her phone.

“I think it’ll be right shivering.” Liam stated, and I heard the fear in his voice already.

I smiled at him, noting the incorrectness of his sentence.

She just made a loud sighing noise as the door creaked open and a girl showed up. She was dressed in jeans and a Tee, with a smile on her face.

It was actually pretty amazing, since I had expected her to be in costume, like the man by the door was.

Or maybe she...  _was_ in costume?

“Okay, can I have... 8 people come with me?”

Liam visibly gulped and we followed her through the doorway, as four other people followed us, into a foyer of darkness.

No, really. A darkness.

And a foyer, it was so dark that I couldn't even see a path leading  _out_ of the room.

The only light on in the foyer was a wall sconce, with fire - as opposed to an actual light bulb. The girl stood in front of the sconce as warm light bathed over her face and she gave us a smile once we were all standing in front of her.

“Welcome to the place of your nightmares… the living hell. Craic Manor, if you will.” Her voice was extremely casual, as if a place of nightmares was the only place that she wanted to be. “I’ll be leading you around today, your, uh… medium, if you will. If you have any questions.. please feel free to ask them.” And she started to turn to the wall when Liam cleared his throat.

“Yes?”

“Why is it… so dark?”

The girl just smiled and turned around.

She pressed her hand against the wall that held the sconce and the wall opened up- I had no idea how- and she stepped through, saying “I hope you guys have the brightness setting up on your phones.”

* * *

 

By the time we stumbled through the back door of the mansion, we were terrified.

I have never felt like my life was in danger before- not like that, and I have to say, I was _literally_ shivering in my boots.

Louis was just quiet, a sound that _no_ one was used to hearing, and Liam had his arm wrapped around my torso, pulling me into him. I was hiding in his chest, feeling his ragged breaths. I looked up and blinked at the sky, seeing Florida standing there with her arms crossed.

“That was lame.” She said, and I moved away from Liam and towards her.

We were outside in the open air, the sun beating down on us and a walkway spread in front of us, leading from the _actual_ house of evil. A broken, beaten pathway with fake blood smeared on it-or was it fake?- led up to a gate- I assumed to leave a residual feeling of terror, the feeling that you might not _ever_ get away. The other strangers who had been in our group were chatting, presumingly about the trip we just went on.

“ _Lame_? Are you o _kay_? Did you just do and see the same things we did or…?” Louis asked, shaking a little.

“Can we just..get _out_ of here… please?” Liam asked, grabbing Louis’ arm and leading him down the pathway, both of them walking ridiculously fast.

Florida grabbed onto my hand and smiled at me.

“Even though that date was lame… I forgive you. Because you’re so cute. Do you maybe want to make it up to me? We can go get some gluten-free, sugar-free smoothies, if you’d like.” She said, and I studied her, interested in the reason why she wasn't afraid.

The situation was genuinely scary, the house was enough to give someone heart palpitations and she was okay? I was disappointed that she didn't get to enjoy it like we did, it was really a shame.

By the time we caught up to the boys at the car, Florida had convinced me to take her out for gluten/sugar/fat-free cupcakes instead. Apparently there was some restaurant that sold them, and she had looked them up earlier, because she had been in the mood for them.

“We’re going for cupcakes.” She said excitedly as soon as we closed the door to the car we had used to get here.

“Fuckin- _fuck_ , mate, **I** want some cupcakes.” Louis exclaimed, and Liam nodded.

“You wouldn't mind if we tagged along?” Liam asked, realizing that we were trying to spend time together.

For some strange reason, I wasn't peeved that Louis and Liam had invited themselves, as I usually would be in this type of situation.

“No-” She started, but I placed my hand on her shoulder.

“Yes... yeah you guys can come. It’d be rude to deny them cupcakes, right?” She glared at me and then smiled at them sweetly with a hesitant nod.

* * *

“You didn’t _tell_ me they were _sugar-free_ cupcakes, you **ass** hole.” Louis complained through the doorway of my room, his hands on his hips and a cupcake sitting angrily in his palm.

I made a face.

We were back at the hotel, and Louis has just knocked on the door and took about two seconds of dramatic silence before yelling at me.

“I mean…”

“You just you forgot to say ‘Hey, me and my new girlfriend are going to go out for _sugar_ -free, _fat_ -free cupcakes.’ Like, okay, if you’re switching to a new sugar-free lifestyle that I don’t understand, or really approve of, then that’s fine. But do _not_ drag me into your pathetic, disappointing, depressing, _shrouded_ way of life.”

“ _Lo_ uis, I just, I thought they’d offer regular cupcakes on their menu as well.” I defended, placing my hand over my heart from surprise.

He just rolled his eyes and stomped away.

I smiled after him, fondly, and shook my head in mourning for whatever wrath Harry was about to get from Louis' frustration.

“ _Wow_ , is he ungrateful or what? I thought you guys would be... less rude.” She asked, amazedly, cutting into one of her cupcakes with a fork and a knife.

“No, he just ...doesn't like sugar-free cupcakes. Or being bamboozled into buying sugar-free cupcakes. I don’t really blame him.” I said, eying her cupcake warily.

“Yeah, you didn't buy one either, do you not like what I eat?” She accused and I cleared my throat.

“You know, I just, I don’t think i’d like sugar-free, gluten-free, fat-free cupcakes either.” I said, scratching the back of my neck.

She rolled her eyes and held up a forkful of the cupcake, offering it to me.

I walked over and she held it up to my face and fed it to me, making an encouraging noise. I chewed on the mess that was the cupcake and held back a gag as I swallowed it politely.

It was actually the dryest, hardest thing i've probably ever put in my mouth.

And that's  _saying_ something.

“You hate it.” She deadpanned, making a face at me.

“I don’t not dislike it.” I murmured, and she made another face at me.

“We should actually probably order room-service, it’s late now, about 7, and we can’t all live off cupcakes.” I teased, changing the subject and grabbing the menu of the kitchenette counter.

I placed it on the counter, opened and rested my arms on it, leaning over it to read better.

Florida placed her hand on my wrist and smiled. “You know...there’s other options… of things to eat.”

I shuddered from a mix of the cheesiness of what she said, and from the suggestion in her voice.

I sort of lied to Liam about the two month thing, it had definitely been longer than that.

Like, 3...4 months.

“Um…” I said awkwardly, her eyes piercing me.

And I realised in that moment that

I wasn't ready.

To have sex with her.

I didn’t really know _what_ it was, I mean, i’m not much against one night stands, so it wasn’t that she was a stranger.

Maybe it was because she wasn’t a stranger?

But then again, if Liam knocked on my door and told me to get on my knees for him…

“Do you….?”

“ _Yes_ I mean sex. We’re officially dating now, I’m a grown woman, you’re a grown man, it’s expected.”

I was taken off guard by her answer.

“I’m not, ready?” I answered finally, confused on what to say.

“ _ **What**_?” She sounded flabbergasted. I guess it didn't make much sense for me to not want sex from her, I mean, she’s a girl, and she was tight and warm…

“I’m… not… we haven’t known each other for very long, and I want to be a gentleman.” I said, placing my hand on top of hers.

“No, _fuck_ being a gentleman, you’re Zayn Malik. And I need to lock in before someone prettier catches your eye.”

“I’m not sure you have to do much 'locking in' if I’m turning down the _sex_ instead of, you know, begging for it, love. We should wait.” She pouted and moved back to her cupcake, rolling her eyes.

“You’re too gorgeous to turn down sex.” She murmured under her breath as I decided on something to eat.

“I want a salad, gotta steer away the calories from these cupcakes.” She said after a bit of time passed. I tried not to make a face- we only had breakfast this morning, and she had only downed half a bagel with nothing on it.

“Are you sure, you haven’t eaten much-”

“Are you calling me _fat_?” She asked, throwing down her fork in an uproar.

Well, I wasn’t in the mood for _this_.

I called room service and then grabbed my key card, which I had managed to talk her into giving back, and then sighed.

“I’m going to go pick up the room service, I think.”

I knew I didn’t have to, but I needed to stretch my legs.

And keep myself from shoving my foot down my throat again.

She waved me off with her fork and I headed out the door, pulling it behind me with a "Be back.".

Liam was standing in front of his door as I passed, balancing a couple of styrofoam containers in his arms as he tried to grab for his key card.

I walked over and reached into his back pocket-the direction that he was desperately thrusting his hand- and took out his key card, reaching around him to open the door.

“Oi! I thought you were a rapist or something, mate.” Liam exclaimed in surprise, smiling at me. “What’re you doing out? It’s like… 8:00 at night.”

“I could be asking you the same thing.” I said, following him into his room and watching him drop the containers onto his kitchenette counter.

“Just came from Louis’ room, he had some plates of food he wanted me to have, said he ordered too much room service or summat. Now, where’re you off to?” Liam asked, walking up to me.

“Off to go get my _own_  food. from room service. She was being a little crazy. Had to get out of there.”

Liam raised his eyebrows at me, but didn’t question any further. He slung his arm around my neck and looked at me with those huge chocolate eyes, smiling.

Dazzling me.

“ _Well_ , I can’t make you go by yourself.” He said, and gave me a friendly punch to the jaw as he steered me out of the room and into the hallway.

As soon as we walked out, a soccer ball rolled up and tapped against the side of my foot, and then stilled. I picked it up and looked up.

Niall and Harry were out in the hallway now, and I assumed that from the way they were being  _ridiculously_ loud, the ball belonged to them.

The hallway had been empty not but five minutes before that, and they were already out here playing footie. I threw Niall the ball and he jumped up and caught it, setting it down by his foot.

“Oi! Where you two love birds off to?” Niall asked, kicking at the ball but hitting air instead, resulting in Harry grabbing his stomach in laughter. Louis threw a popcorn at Niall from the doorway of his hotel room, shouting  “Fucking _disgrace_.”

“Food, we’re getting food. I ordered some for me and Florida.” I said, and Liam moved his arm from around my neck to around my torso, and I smiled at him. “Oh. bring me some macaroni, will ya, i'm starvin'.” Niall said, chucking the ball at Harry to make him quit laughing.

“ _Hey_!”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I humored, and then tapped Liam, who was staring at them with a heart-wrenching amount of fond. He came to, and waved at them.

“See you in a bit.” Liam said.

When we got to the elevator, Liam dropped his arm from around me to shove his fingers through his hair.

Not that I was upset about it.

“If Paul catches them he’s going to kill em’.” Liam stated, and I nodded, pressing a button on the elevator.

“D’you know where we’re going, Zayn?”

“No clue.” I stated.

The basement level of the hotel seemed like a good place to start looking for food.

* * *

The basement was a _horrible_ place to look for food. After Liam and I had been thoroughly yelled at by an old man who belonged in the haunted house, and then sent up to the main floor, we finally found the food service place, and got my plate.

I was standing in Liam’s room, holding the styrofoam container and standing next to his front door, on my way out.

I had already handed Niall his container of macaroni, after sneaking outside to a restaurant across the street to get it, of course.

I never really liked to _leave_ Liam alone, especially when he didn't have a roommate for the night. And he wouldn't until we dropped Florida off.

“You won’t be too lonely?” I asked as I gripped the door handle, hearing Louis outside of the door say “No, _no,_  look if the ball touches the ground, then you _lose_ , those are the rules.”  probably to Harry.

“No, I’ll be _fine_ , Zayn...what about you?”

“What... no I’ve got Flo-”

“Florida, yeah, but… you don’t feel a _little_ uncomfortable sleeping in the same hotel as her? You just went on your first date today.”

“Well, I mean, maybe, since I _hate_ staying in the same  _hotel_ as someone." I corrected him, a smirk on my face."But seriously,… maybe a little. But you know, we only stay in hotels sometimes, and there’s different beds, so it's not as scary..” I let the door handle go so that I could make broad hand gestures while I tried to make the words.

“You’re not going to pressure her, right?” Liam asked from his bed, looking up from his phone at me.

I glared at him.

“Okay, okay, just checking.” He put his phone down next to him and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, pulling it off and chucking it on the floor next to him to get more comfortable.

It was normal to get naked around eahc other. Living on the road together meant that you have to get comfortable with other people seeing everything about you, knowing everything about you.

And that includes your body.

At this point, watching someone take off their clothes is just the same as watching someone put on a jacket.

Unless you were me, and Liam was currently undressing.

In a hotel room, alone with you.

And you hadn't had sex in  _months_.

And you were disgustingly attracted to him.

And then he reached down to undo his jeans, sticking his tongue out in concentration.

And I had to get out of there, or I might've done something I'd regret. Like stare at him while he did it.

Or beg him to let me suck his dick.

I sputtered a little and tried to dispel my torturous thoughts of him removing the rest of his clothes.

“I’m going to… go now.” I said, and heard Liam say “Okay, night. Love you.” As I left.

“ _Zayyyyn_!” Niall said merrily, throwing his hands up, a beer in hand. “D’you wanna play ‘Hot lava’? We’re about to do it in Louis’ room.” Louis’ nodded, doing kicky-uppies with the soccer ball, Harry watching him with an amazed glint in his eye.

I smiled at them and shook my head. "Maybe later, guys. Not tonight."

Niall whistled while Louis’ smirked at me and Harry clapped my back.

“What?” I asked them, surprised by their reactions.

“Well, I think we all _know_ why you said no.” Louis said, and I rolled my eyes at his suggestion.

“We’re not… doing that.”

“Mhm.” Louis said, obviously unconvinced. I rolled my eyes again and threw them a middle finger, sliding the key card inside of my hotel room door and entered.

* * *

When I walked out of the bathroom, pajamas on and my hair still a little damp, I found Florida sitting on my bed, watching the door open.

“So, how are we going to sleep?” She asked while I stood in front of the door, figuring out whether or not I should sleep with just bottoms on, like usual, or if I should try to be more reserved and leave on my pajamas.

“Well. I hope.” I joked, walking towards my bag and opting for a full set of pajamas, a little because I didn't quite know if she could handle it. I pulled out my laptop from my bag and then cursed myself because I left the charger on the bus.

I climbed on the bed and stretched out anyway, careful to avoid kicking her in the back. She swiveled around to face me, and then criss-crossed her legs. “ _No_ , I mean, are you sleeping in one bed and me in the other, or…?”

I raised my eyebrows.

I had no interest in sleeping in the same bed as her.

I mean, I was absolutely whipped the second I saw her, it was true, but in all honesty, something seemed a little… off about her.

And the thought of doing something so intimate as  _literally_ sleeping with her repulsed me a little bit.

“We went on one date...and it was today.” I stated, and she looked slightly concerned.

I opened my laptop, sure that the sentence was enough to tell her that we’d be sleeping in separate beds.

I hadn’t slept in the same bed as someone in… I couldn’t even remember.

Not like a one night stand kind of sleep, but more like a “I need to be with you.” kind of way, it was such a strange question to ask someone.

And then suddenly, my computer was being lifted from my hands and closed, being placed on the floor next to my bed.

And then Florida was straddling me, her face close.

She grasped my jaw in her hand and tilted my head up so i’d have to meet her eyes.

“Do you know how many people have sex on the first date?” She asked me, her voice hushed, changed a little to sound sexier.

“No?” I asked, distracted by… my dick.

How embarrassing.

“A _lot_ of people. Including me. I think that it’s like a first kiss, you know? If it’s not amazing when it happens, then you know. Y’know?” She asked.

And then started grinding on my crotch.

I moaned a little bit as the feeling shot straight to my cock.

Fucking traitor.

“Well, we haven’t even had our first kiss, so…” I retorted.

And she leaned in and pressed her mouth to mine, shocking me to the core.

Her lips were soft, and reminded me of what it was like to have any kind of intimate connections, made me wonder about love and life.

And it made me want anything _other_ than sex.

The opposite of what she was trying to extract from me.

In all actuality, it made me yearn for someone to kiss me that I loved, someone to kiss me that I had loved for  _years_.

Something that I didn't even  _have_ , and knew I'd have to work at.

Maybe with Florida.

Or maybe with someone else.

Actually, the only reason why my penis was responding was because she was grinding on it, which was quite unfair.

It was confused, a lot like I was.

When she pulled away, she was dramatically breathless, her hips still moving. I groaned as my eyes flicked to her crotch on mine and back up.

“There, we had our first kiss.” She murmured into my ear, placing her face in the crook of my shoulder.

Her drags getting harder, quicker.

I grabbed her hips to halt her movement, and she lifted her head and glared at me.

“You don’t want to fuck me?” She asked.

She sounded so desperate and disappointed, and fucked out already.

My brain shut down at the mention of the word "fuck".

I hadn't had it in so long, I was ready to  _gag_ for it.

So wasn't it a little weird that I didn't want to with Florida?

Maybe it was because I really liked this girl.

I spluttered. “No- ye-no, I don’t. Want to. Not right now, I.. um, can you get off of me? Please? I can’t think straight.”

“You can't think straight, baby? That's good, because it’s only a taste of what I can give you.” She said, and I choked back a laugh at how cheesy that sounded. She climbed off me and onto her own bed, looking dejected.

“Well, we can’t have sex on the tour bus.” She pouted.

“But somehow Harry manages it.” I murmured, and she made a noise that suggested she didn’t know what I had said. “You won’t even notice, I promise.”

She made a disapproving noise and wiggled under the covers.

“Good night, Zayn.” She yawned, and I grabbed my computer from the floor.

“Good night, Florida.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaayyy chapter 3!  
> I haven't done any hype for this story at all, and it still has some hits, and a kudos.  
> This amazes me, thank you so much.  
> Now, I haven't done any hype for the story, and I want until it's finished, or until it almost is, since I'm taking so long to do it.

**Author's Note:**

> I really, REALLY don't know how often I can update this fiction now that i'm back in school, and busy and tired and things of that nature, but I guess i'll do my best.  
>  I'm so sorry, but I turned this into a Ziam fic. I know, I know, I know. But I was just working on another chapter, and something attacked me and whispered "Make it Ziam", and I just wouldn't be able to write this story unless I was writing it the way I wanted to, i'm sorry, so sorry don't hate me.


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